Garment form retainer



Jan. 20, 1970 F. Y. SHERBONDY 3,490,660

GARMENT FORM RETAINER Filed Feb. l5, 1969 nited States ABSTRACT F THE DISCLOSURE A form retainer for interconnecting the overlapping front panels of coat type garments, including a buttonhole retaining means in the form of a tab and a button retaining means in the form of a longitudinally extending web.

This invention relates to garment form retainers and more particularly it relates to a device for interconnecting the overlapping front panels of a coat type garment, wherein one of such panels is provided with a button and the other of such panels is provided with a buttonhole.

Generally, the present invention is related to and may be regarded as an improvement upon the garment form retainers disclosed in my prior United States Patents No. 2,641,390; 2,975,948; 3,091,376; 3,143,260; 3,283,969; and, 3,411,678. All of these prior patents disclose garment form retainer devices which are intended to hold the front panels of a coat type garment in a position where the panels are in overlapping relation when the coat is placed upon a hangar. The purpose of such a retainer is to prevent the coat from sagging or otherwise becoming deformed or mis-positioned on the hanger, and retainer devices of this type are widely used by dry cleaners, tailors and others who desire to maintain a coat type garment in a neat and attracive manner upon a hanger.

All garment form retainers basically comprise an elongated flat body for insertion between the overlapping front portions of the coat type garment, with such body carrying thereon (a) means in the form of a tab or the like for coupling the body with a vbuttonhole on one front portion of the garment, and (b) means in the form of an opening for coupling the body with a button on the other front portion of the garment. All of my aforementioned patents provide both the button retaining means and the buttonhole retaining means discussed hereinabove, but by varying the design, it it often possible to provide unique and beneficial improvements in the retainers.

As mentioned in my prior Patent No. 3,411,678, there are three general areas in which improvements can be made in retainer devices of this type. First, it is possible to improve upon the manufacturing technique lby which such garment form retainers are made, for the purpose of simplifying the manufacturing steps, decreasing the manufacturing costs and minimizing the amount of waste material produced. Secondly, it is possible to provide a retainer wherein the attachment of the buttonhole retaining means with the buttonhole, and the button retaining means with the button, is simplified and expedited. Third, it is possible to provide a garment form retainer designed in a manner which assures that the retainer will stay iirmly attached to both the button and the buttonhole, under all types of rough handling conditions, for assuring that the coat panels will be maintained in their proper overlapping relationship.

The retainer described and claimed in my aforementioned U.S. Patent No. 3,411,678 provided a distinct improvement over the retainer shown in my other prior patents in that it provided a pair of slit lines in the body which set off between each other, a web. When the button was inserted through the slit lines, the web extended over the front face of the button, while the back face of the button was retained against the forward surface atent 3,490,660 Patented Jan. 20, 1970 of the retainer body, thus assuring a positive assembly of the button and the retainer. The web itself extended generally vertically or transversely of the longitudinal axis of the body, and as a result, to provide for -proper positioning for different sizes of coat garments, it was necessary to make two or more vertical webs, or alternatively, to provide only one web which was placed at the optimum position where it would be most universal for different types of garments.

I have found, however, that in assembling the retainer of my U.S, Patent No. 3,411,678 with a coat type garment, the connection of the button with the web sometimes requires rather careful manipulation. Also, since the vertically extending webs are positioned a set distance away from the tab and away from each other, there can be only one or two different degrees of overlap of the coat garments. In other words, if the button is assembled with the first vertical web in my device in accordance with my Patent No. 3,411,678 and the tab is assembled with the buttonhole, then the panels of the garment will overlap to a set degree. If the button is assembled with the next adjacent vertically extending web, the coat panels will overlap to a different degree. However, it was not and is not possible to provide a universal and infinitely variable amount of overlap of the front panels while using a retainer formed in accordance with my Patent No. 3,411,- 678 and accordingly, I have designed and invented the garment form retainer shown herein.

With this explanation in mind, it is, therefore an object of the present invention to provide a garment form retainer which constitutes an improvement upon the retainer shown in my prior Patent No. 3,411,678.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a garment form retainer wherein the degree of overlap of the front panels of the garment can be adjusted to any selected amount.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a garment form retainer wherein the assembly of the button with the button retaining means is simplified.

Other objects, advantages and salient features of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description, which, taken in conjunction with the annexed drawings, discloses a preferred embodiment thereof.

Referring to the drawings, which form a part of this original disclosure:

FIG. 1 is a front elevational view of a garment having operatively positioned thereon, a garment form retainer in accordance with the principles of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a plan view of a garment form retainer in accordance with the principles of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the garment form retainer attached in position upon a coat type garment; and

FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along the line 4 4 of FIG. 3.

For purposes of simplicity, the garment form retainer will be described first and the manner in which the same is attached to a garment will then be ldescribed. Therefore, let attention rst be directed to FIG. 2 wherein there is shown a garment form retainer in accordance with the principles of the present invention, such retainer being generally designated 10. The retainer 10 is formed as a flat elongated, generally rectangular body 12 fabricated of a yieldable, relatively stiff material such as cardboard, exible plastic, or other suitable similar material.

The central axis of the garment form retainer, which also comprises the longitudinal axis of the body 12 and the axis of elongation thereof, is designated 14. The boundaries of the body 12 can be defined by the upper and lower edges, 16 and 18 respectively, and by opposed side edges 20 and 22.

A buttonhole retaining means generally designated 24 is provided adjacent the end of the body 12, near the edge 20. This buttonhole retaining means is formed as a tab 26 integrally connected at its upper end with the body 12 along a hinge line 28 which may advantageously be scored or perforated to facilitate swinging the tab 26 away from the rbody 12 for insertion into a buttonhole. The tab 26 is formed by making an arcuate, partially circular slit line 30 in the body. The central point about which the slit line 30 is generated is designated 32, and this point intersects with the longitudinal central axis 14 as shown. The hinge line 28 for the tab extends parallel to, and spaced above, the central axis 14, and the slit lines 30 terminate when they reach the level of the hinge line 28.

The button retaining means is generally designated 34 and is located centrally upon the body 12 between the tab 26 and the opposite end 22. The button retaining means 34 is created by forming a pair of spaced parallel slit lines 36 and 38 which are respectively positioned equal distances above and below, but parallel to, the central axis 14. That portion of the body 12 between the slit lines 36 and 38 forms a web 40 which extends longitudinally of the body 12.

Referring now to FIG. 1, there is shown therein a typical coat type garment having overlapping front portions 4Z and 44. The front portion 42 carries along the inner edge thereof, a series of vertically spaced buttons 46 while the opposite front portion 44 carries along the inner edge thereof, a series of vertically spaced buttonholes designated 48. The garment form retainer of the present invention is used after a garment has been cleaned, pressed, altered or otherwise placed upon a hanger and is used to assure that the front panels 42 and 44 of the coat type garment overlap each other to a degree somewhat greater than the degree of overlap which would be created if the buttons 46 were merely positioned through the buttonholes 48. In this manner, the garment form retainer 10 serves to assure that the coat type garment will hang smoothly upon a hanger and will not inadvertently slip therefrom during handling or transit.

The basic manner in which the garment form retainer 10 operates to provide such overlapping is by assembling the buttonhole retaining means 24 with a buttonhole 48 and by assembling the button retaining means 34 with a button 46. By referring to FIG. 4, it can be seen that the button 46 is normally attached to the panel 42 by means of thread 50 or by some other suitable type of attaching means. The button 46 itself has a at rear surface 52, an opposed front surface 54, and is generally formed in a circular manner having a continuous peripheral edge 56.

In assembling the button 46 with the button retaining means 34, the upper peripheral edge of the button is inserted from the rear of the retainer body 12 through the slit line 36 to extend partially thereabove and in front of the ybody 12. Similarly, the lower peripheral edge of the button 46 is inserted through the lower slit line 38 to eX- tend in front of the body. The result of this arrangement, and the result of inserting the button in this manner, is that the web 40 is displaced forwardly out of the plane of the body 12, and the web 40 extends across the front central portion of the button in the manner shown in FIG. 3. Meanwhile, the rearward face 52 of the button is pressed into engagement with the front surface of the retainer body 12 and the threads 50 which retain the button, extend through the opening caused by forward displacement of the web 40. Since the longitudinal length of the web 40 is considerably greater than the diameter of the -button 46, it is possible to insert the button at any point along the length of the web 40. Thereafter, by merely pulling the retainer body 12, the position of the body relative to the button can be adjusted as desired.

Once the button 46 has been so attached with the button retaining means 34, with the web 40 extending longi- 4 tudinally across the face of the button, then the front panel 44 of the coat can be overlapped and the tab 26 can be inserted through a buttonhole. The edges of the tab will, once the tab has been pushed a sufficient distance into the buttonhole, frictionally engage with the side edges of the button in order to provide a more or less temporary locking therebetween.

When the user desires to remove the retainer 10 so that the coat can be worn, the button 46 is simply unbuttoned from its engagement with the overlying web 40 and the body 12 and the tab 26 is removed from the buttonhole 48, either by passing the same back through the buttonhole or by ripping the tab from the body. In either event, the device 10 will be removed and the coat can be subsequently worn by the user.

It is possible to employ other and different forms of tabs 26 than the ones shown and described herein, such as, for example, those tabs shown in my prior Patent No. 3,411,678 or other tabs shown in my other prior patents mentioned hereinabove. The principal distinction and the principal improvement of the present invention, however, resides in the provision of an elongated longitudinally extending web 40 extending across the forward face of the button. As aforementioned, this web 40 provides two distinctive improvements over the vertically extending web utilized in my prior Patent No. 3,411,678. First, it facilitates and simplifies engagement of the button 46 through the slit lines, since the slit lines are considerably longer than the diameter of the button. Secondly, it provides an arrangement where the button can be inserted at any point along the length of the web 40 and the retainer itself can thereafter be adjusted to stop the button at any desired position, where it will be ultimately held in position by means of engagement of theA we-b 40 against the forward face of the button and by engagement of the remainder of the retainer body 12 against the rear face of the button. This infinitely adjustable positioning of the button with respect to the retainer provides a versatility not present in a retainer designed in accordance with my Patent No. 3,411,678 and thus constitutes an improvement thereover.

It will thus be understood that the garment form retainer of the present invention accomplishes the objects set forth at the outset of the specification.

Accordingly, what is claimed is: 1. In a form retainer for a coat garment of the type having overlapping front portions with at least one buttonhole on one portion and at least one button on the other portion, said retainer comprising a longitudinally elongated flat body of yieldable material for insertion between said overlapping front portions, and said retainer including button retaining means and buttonhole retaining means, the improvement which comprises:

said buttonhole retaining means being positioned adjacent one end of said retainer and formed as a tab connected at its upper end to said body so that the lower portion of said body is free to extend through said buttonhole and thereby position said one front portion of said coat garment; said button retaining means being formed by a pair of closely spaced longitudinally extending parallel slit lines which set off between each other, a longitudinally extending web, the ends of which are connected integrally with said body; said web being positioned along the longitudinal central axis of said body and having a relatively narrow width transversely of said longitudinal central axis;

said button having upper and lower portions insertable through said slit lines so that the rear surface of said button abuts against the front of said body and said web extends centrally across the front surface of said button;

said button retaining means thus assembling said button and said body together with said button being slidable longitudinally to thus permit said other front 5 6 portion of said coat garment to be adjusted in posi- References Cited tion relative to said one front portion. 2. The improvement defined in claim 1 wherein a longi- UNITED STATES PATE-NTS tudinal hinge line is provided at the upper end of said tab and wherein said hinge line and said web are parallel. r 'n 2/1967 slheuer 223-71 3. The improvement defined in claim 1 wherein said 0 4 78 11/1968 S erbondy 223 71 tab is of generally arcuate configuration, with the edfres of said tab being frictionally engageable with the endcof MERVIN STEIN Primary Exammer a. buttonhole to retain said tab therein. G. V. LARK, Assistant Examiner 

